Is Coach Mentoring For Me?

by | Aug 29, 2023 | Mentor Coaching | 0 comments

As much as we love mentoring coaches, it’s probably not a good fit for every coach. It’s important to think about what kind of work you do as a coach and if it makes you happy, interested and inspired.

So, what does make a good mentor coach? Here are a few questions we ask coaches who come to us with this question:

  1. Do you like to listen to coaching? To effectively mentor, it’s important to listen to your mentee coach their client.
  2. Do you like to explore what makes coaching masterful? Beyond the basic ability to exemplify the ICF Core Competencies, there is an opportunity to help your mentee go even deeper and discover new ways to effectively coach.
  3. Do you like to listen for the ICF Core competencies and talk about how they show up in coaching? A big part of mentoring is helping your mentee grow their ability to demonstrate the competencies.
  4. Do you like to engage with colleagues in a robust conversation around coaching skills? Remember your coach training? Did you enjoy the connection and conversations you had when you were first learning to be a coach?
  5. Do you have a strong belief in the workability of the coaching process? Having a clear sense of what is and is not coaching is important when mentoring, as new mentees may tend to step outside coaching and into consulting or other helping modalities. Being able to convey the power of trusting in the coaching process is an important part of mentoring.
  6. Do you love working with coaches? If you love working with coaches, as we do, you will love mentoring.

Just as every coach is not a perfect match for every client, we have found that the role of mentor is one that works best for coaches who can say yes to most of the questions above.

One of the things we love to do in addition to mentoring coaches is training mentor coaches. Helping coaches find their unique strengths as mentors so that they can share their expertise and knowledge with other coaches, is something we truly enjoy.

If you’re interested in becoming a mentor coach, we would love to talk to you and answer any questions you may have. You can learn more about becoming certified here: Mentor Coach Certification.